Show-case refrigerator



y 1932- T. A. JOSTEDT SHOW CASE REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan. 16. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l 3 f/EDORE A. M05750?) G/RMMW July 5, 1932. T. A. JOSTEDT 1,865,761

SHOW CASE REFRIGERATOR Filed Jan. 16. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 5, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE THEODORE A. JOSTEDT, OFST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO HUSSMANN-LIGONIER COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE snow-cast: REFRIGERATOR Application filed. January 16, 1928. Serial No. 247,010.

This invention pertains to showcase refrigerators and more particularly to that type of refrigerator having a long showcase compartment enclosed in transparent panels, in which goods may be displayed and which at the same time may be kept at a refrigerating temperature so as to preserve the goods.

In a showcase refrigerator of this type, since the main purpose of the-device is to w display goods, every precaution must be taken to avoid anything which will reduce the visibility of the goods through the display panels. In any refrigerator which is efficient, a circulation of air is set up by which the warm air is transferred to the refrigerating agent, while the cold air is carried to the goods to cool the same. A current of cold air impinging upon a glass panel will greatly reduce its temperature, and such action has a tendency to fog or cloud the glass as a result of condensation of the moisture there- One of the objects of this invention, therefore, is to provide such a showcase refrigerator with mechanical refrigeration, in which the air currentsare caused to pass in such a way as to prevent clouding of the transparent panels.

Such a showcase refrigerator is not only a display cabinet, but is also a storage compartment from which meat and similar goods are dispensed for sale. Accordingly, the case is provided with doors, through which access may be had to the goods. During the busy hours of operation, these doors areopened very frequently, so that communication with the outside is established. In fact, in some establishments in which the volume of business is such that almost continual access to the refrigerator must be had, it has become the practice to remove the doors entirely and leave them off during these rush hours. In such a case, the circulation of the air within the case must be arranged in such a way as to reduce to a minimum the tendency for cold air to pass out of the refrigerator and warm air into it.

Another object of this invention, therefore,

is'to provide mechanical refrigeration in such 5 a showcase with an arrangement of aircir culation which will have a minimum tendency to exchange air with the outer atmosphere through the open doors.

Another object is to provide simple and efiicient means for applying mechanical refrigeration to a showcase refrigerator of this type n sucha way, as to render the cooling COIlS inconsplcuous and place them so as not to interfere with the proper handling of the rent of cold air impinging upon the doors.

Such a cold current will cause condensation of moisture upon the doors, whether they are solid or have transparent panels, and in either case the accumulation of moisture will cause warping and rotting of the wood. As a result, the doors will stick so as to be movable only with difficulty and their life will be considerably shortenedf It is another object of this invention, therefore, to provide a refrigerator in which the air currents are so directed as to avoid condensation of moisture upon the doors at the rear thereof.

Further objects will appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a refrigerator embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section of a similar refrigerator taken on line 3 3 of Figure 4, but showing the application of another type of cooling coils; and

Figure 4 is a partial section on line 4- 1: of Figure 3.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a showcase refrigeratorof the type popularly known as a freezer display case, 1 designates the bottom, 2 the front, and 3 the rear walls of the food compartment,

which are constructed of insulating material in any approved manner well known in the art. The upper part of the front is provided with a transparent panel 4. This panel is usually set at an angle so as to incline rearwardly so as to render the contents of the display compartment more easily visible from the front of the case. The rear wall of the case is provided with doors 5, which may also be provided with transparent panels 6. The rear wall is also'sloped so that the attendant may easily view the contents of the food compartment through the panels 6. It will be noted that the rear wall 3 extends vertically to about half its height, while the upper portion thereof is sloped forwardly so as to give the doors 5 the inclination just mentioned. The solid wall structure is carried upwardly past the bend 7, so that there is a short section of inclined wall 8 above the bend. The purpose of this will be more fully described hereinafter.

Mounted in the upper portion of the display compartment and extending along the top thereof, is a cooling coil 9 of any suitable type. This may be of the so-called fin type, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, or of the ordinary horizontal coils shown in Figures 3 and 4. The coils themselves may be supported in any suitable manner from a. bracket 10 mounted in the case, and may be connected in any suitable manner, as by means of pipes 11, with a source of mechanical refrigeration, such as an ice machine of any suitable t e, not shown.

llllounted below the refrigerating coil 9 is a baflle 12. This baflle extends partly across the bottom of the coil 9and has at the side thereof an upward extension 13 extending upwardly along the side of the coil 9, but terminating below the top of the compartment so as to leave thereabove a passage 14 for the circulation of air. Asecond baflle 15 extends along the bottom of the coil 9 and has an upward extension 16 along the side of the coil and terminating below the top of the compartment, as in the case of the baflle 13, so as to rovide a passage 17 for air circulation, simil ar to the passage 14. The lower edge of the bafile 15 extends below the edge of the baflle 12 and is provided with a lip 18 providing a trough adapted to receive the drippings from the coil and from the bafile 12. The latter baflle is sloped so as to drain into said trough. The trough itself is drained by a pipe 19 communicating therewith and passing down wardly out of the refrigerator.

The baflies may be supported by a bracket 20 hung upon a rod 21, which may be supported directly on the coils 9.

It will be noted that thesebafiles extend across the bottom of thecooling coils so as to catch any moisture which may drip there-' from, thus protecting the food in the compartment from contamination by such drippings. The bafiles artly enclose the cooling coils so as to provi e, in effect, a coil chamber. The chamber is in communication with the refrigerating compartment through the passages 14 and 17 at the top of said chamber and t rough the passage 22 at the bottom of said chamber between the lip 18 and the baflle 12.

It will be seen that this arrangement promotes a definite circulation of-air. The air in contact with the cooling coils becomes chilled and contracted and is thereby rendered heavier than the warmer air and has a tendency to fall to a lower level. This chilled air passes out of the chamber through the passage 22, which is located near the middle of the refrigcrating compartment. The chilled air thus falls downwardly from this passage through the middle of the compartment. As this current impinges upon the food stored upon the shelves 23 of the compartment, the food is cooled thereby and the air is correspondingly warmed. As the chilled air passes out of the coil chamber through the passage 22, it is replaced by warmer air passing into the top of said chamber through the passages 14 and 17. This passage of air into the coil chamber inite circulation is established. The cold air passes downwardly through the middle of the compartment. As it strikes the shelves or the food thereon, it is warmed and deflected toward the sides of the compartment. The warmer air, having been forced to the sides of the compartment, moves upwardly along the sides, as indicated byl the arrows in Figure 2, and is drawn into t e coil chamber through the passages 14 and 17. It will be clear that this circulation will be maintained so long as the coils 9 are supplied with the refrigerating agent. Accordingly, the entire food compartment will be kept at a low temperature by this circulation. \r

It will be noted that the upwardly moving current of air along the rear wall 3 strikes the in-turned portion 8 of that wall and is deflected thereby so as to move upwardly along the doors 5. This current of air, having been deflected and started in a direction along the door, and the upper air being drawn into the passage 1a to replace the cold air passin out of the coil chamber, there will be a de nite tendency for this current of air to pass along the inner wall from the corner 7 to the passage 14. This tendency is afiected very little by the presence or absense of the doors 5. Accordingly, when the doors are open or removed, the same tendency will be active, and the air current will pass, along the doorway with little tendency for air to pass out of or into the doorway. It will further be noted that, since the air within the food compartment is usually colder than the surrounding atmosphere outside of the refrigerator, the air passing upwardly from the corner 7 to the passage 14 will be colder than the atmosphere outside of the refrigerator, and when the doors 5 are removed, this colder air will be positioned below the warmer air of the outer atmosphere. Consequently, there will be little tendency for an exchange of air currents between the inside and the outside of the refrigerator. It has been found, in practice, that the doors 5 may be left off the refrigerator for an hour or so without causing a rise of temperature within the food compartment of more than a few degrees.

It will be seen, therefore, that this arrangement of baflies promotes a circulation of air downwardly from the cooling coils through the middle of the food compartment and in a return path upwardly along the sides of the compartment andthrough the top passages 14 and 17 into the top of the coil chamber. It will be noted further that it is the warm air currents which pass along the transparent panels 4 and the doors 5, and these-warm currents will have less tendency to cause condensation of moisture on either the panels or the doors, and the difliculties resulting from such condensation will, therefore, be avoided. It will further be noted that the baflle 15 slopes toward the rear of the refrigerator so that the current emerging from the passage 22 will be directed somewhat rearwardly, rather than forwardly, and any tendency for the current of cold air to impinge directly upon the panels 4 is thereby reduced. I

It is obvious that various changes may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of this invention; it is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A showcase refrigerator, comprising, an elongated showcase compartment having transparent panels along the front thereof and having an inclined door at the back thereof provided with a transparent panel, a refrigerating coil extendin along the top of said compartment, and ba said compartment below said coil andalong the sides thereof constructed and arranged to provide top passages over the sides of said baflles and a bottom passage along the bottom thereof, one of said baflies extending below the inner edge of the other and having a utter adapted to receive the drip from said rst bafiie, said coil and bafiles being adapted and positioned to cause currents of air to circulate in paths from said bottom passa e downwardly into said compartment and m return paths upwardly along said panels and into said top passages.

2. A showcase refrigerator, comprising, an

es extending along elongated showcase compartment having transparent panels along the front thereof and having an inclined door at the back thereof provided with a transparent panel, a refrigerating coil extending along the top of said compartment, baflles extending along said compartment below said coil and along the sides thereof constructed and arranged to provide top passages over the sides of said baflies and a bottom passage along the bottom thereof, and means for supporting said baflles including a bracket extending under said bafiles and supported on said coil, said coil and baflles being adapted and positioned to cause currents of air to circulate in paths from said bottom passage downwardly into said compartment and in return paths upwardly along said panels and into said top passa es. s

3. showcase refrigerator, comprising, an elongated showcase compartment having transparent panels along the front thereof and having an inclined door at the back thereof provided with a transparent panel, a refrigerating coil extending along the top of said compartment, baflies extending along said compartment below said coil and along the sides thereof constructed and arranged to provide top passages over the sides of said baflles and a bottom passage along the bottom thereof, one of said baflles extending below the inner edge of the other and having a utter adapted to receive the drip from said rst baflle, and means for supporting said baflies including a bracket passing under and along the bottoms thereof and supported on said coil, said coil and baflies being adapted and positioned to cause currents of air to circulate in paths from said 

